She was drowning in poverty. He was paralyzed by grief.

Emily Greene is barely surviving, working multiple jobs to care for her sick mother and seven-year-old daughter. When billionaire Victor Hawthorne offers her an impossible salary to be his caregiver, she can't refuse. Even if the wheelchair-bound recluse treats her like the enemy.

Victor Hawthorne spent five years building walls no one could breach. The last thing he needs is a compassionate woman who sees past his cruelty to the broken man beneath. 

But when his company's board demands they need stability by him getting married or lose everything, he makes Emily an offer, become his wife in name only. Three years. No emotions. Just business.

What begins as a cold transaction transforms into something neither expected. 

As Victor learns to walk again, both physically and emotionally. Emily discovers a strength she never knew she had. But when shadows from his past supposedly return and betrayal threatens to destroy them, Emily must build her own empire and Victor must prove he's worthy of a second chance.

Because real love is never just business.

One second I was standing, something I hadn't done in five years, and the next I was crumpling down the floor. My knees hit the marble floor hard enough to send shockwaves of pain up my spine, but I barely felt it.


Because Sharon was standing in my doorway.


"This can't be," I whispered, my hands pressed flat against the cold floor. "This can't be. This can't..."


"Vic." Her voice cracked on my name, that old pet name only she'd ever used. Her hand reached for me, trembling. "Vic, it's me. It's really me."


I couldn't breathe. My lungs had forgotten how. My heart was slamming so hard against my ribs I thought it might burst through my chest and splatter across the floor between us.


Behind me, I heard Jenkins's sharp intake of breath. "Dear God."


"No." The word tore out of me. "No. You're dead. I buried you. I..."


Chapter 56 - Ghost Made Flesh